An incident in the latter stages of the game should have awarded United a penalty when Darius Henderson was tumbled all over by Johnson. Despite that the game in some stages was entertaining.
Olympic gold medallist Paul Goodison was present and walked out with the two teams with the match ball and of course, his gold medal. Each sets of fans were in good voice to encourage their team on to a win.
Both defences were top notch and were determined not to concede a goal. Darius Henderson had a spectacular chance to take the lead on 23 minutes when Halford's cross met the former Watford man who could only head the ball wide from close-range.
A few Cardiff players went to ground in challenges and were getting the backing from the referee. The half-time whistle was blown with applauses from all areas in the packed 29,000 Bramall Lane.
United had plenty of chances to take the lead but were unable to capitalise. Billy Sharp made way for James Beattie in the final 15 minutes of the second period. Beattie made his return a month earlier than schedule.
He won a few ariel battles but they didn't trouble Heaton in the Bluebirds net. After nice play from Speed the ball fell to the feet of Darius Henderson who was poised to pull the trigger, but Roger Johnson prevented him from doing that when he clipped his legs in the penalty area. The referee somehow didn't see the offence and waved away.
In the 5 minutes that were added on in the second half, Stephen Quinn slipped over when one-on-one with the goalkeeper and a defender surrounding him. He only could scuff his shot into the side netting.
Both teams cancelled each other out and the game was spoilt by a disappointing refereeing performance.